Stop The Tears From Falling
by KayMarieXW
Summary: Edward is consumed with protecting Bella from what he is and the secrets he is keeping about his past but what if Bella has secrets of her own that are even more dangerous than his? When circumstances conspire to compel them to be honest, they have to find a way to learn to trust each other if they are both going survive. Vampire AU. Canon couples.
1. Heartbeat

**AN: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and this story has been inspired by the world she created. I have borrowed her characters but I have changed their backstories. I have also made some adjustments to her mythology so that it fits in with the story I have written. This means that although the character's personalities are mainly canon, this story is very AU.**

 **I also wanted to warn you that I'm British. I will try very hard to correct any obvious errors in my language. I know that I need to write parking lot and not car park and flashlight not torch but I expect some errors will slip through, so I apologize in advance. If any of my mistakes are too terrible, please feel free to let me know and I will correct them.**

 **The story title and chapter titles are taken from the lyrics of Next To Me by Emeli Sande and Bones by The Killers.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy the story.**

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 **Stop The Tears From Falling**

 **1\. Heartbeat**

"How are you feeling, Edward?"

I tried not to be irritated by Carlisle's empathetic concern because I knew just how valid that question was.

We were sitting in his office on our first day back at work after a month long break from Forks, however I was still not convinced that I was ready to practice medicine on humans. My near slip that had sent us running five weeks ago was evidence of that. As usual, Carlisle had more faith in me than I did in myself and he had persuaded me to come back and try again but the pressure to succeed was immense. My family had put a lot of time and effort into choosing this location, this hospital and our current back story. This town was the perfect place for us. Most of my family would never voice their hopes that I would not cause us to move prematurely, but that didn't stop me knowing that was what they were thinking.

The original decision for me to try and practice medicine alongside Carlisle had been a long and difficult one. Carlisle felt that I needed something to focus on because I had been slipping deeper and deeper into a bored melancholy and my detachment had infiltrated the whole family. The discussions on how to improve my mood had gone on for years. Carlisle had managed to survive centuries alone without becoming depressed and he attributed that to his dedication to medicine. I had been a young doctor when I'd contracted the illness that would have killed me and it was our professional relationship that had inspired Carlisle to change me but despite my human history, I was still very hesitant to resume my medical career. In fact seeing my human self through Carlisle's memories was one of the reasons I'd been so reluctant for so long. When Carlisle remembered our original friendship it was with fondness, but I thought I'd been an arrogant ass. I was embarrassed by my human conceit and even if I could only remember a few blurry images from that time, Carlisle's memories of me were crystal clear. He thought he had seen something special in me, something worth saving but what that something was remained a mystery to me. So I had wanted to find a new path, away from medicine and the tortuous burn that lit my throat on fire in the presence of human blood but nothing had inspired me so I had eventually conceded and medicine it was. I already had two medical degrees in addition to my human training and experience so I was more than qualified to save lives, if only it wasn't for the unfortunate complication of how likely I was to accidently end them. I could hear from his thoughts that Carlisle sensed my doubt and wanted to support me but was very much aware that I didn't want to hear the same repetitive reassurances again. He was saved from trying to present them to me in an original way to an urgent voice over the intercom. "Doctors Cullen to the ER," it urged and Carlisle and I abandoned our discussion to comply.

We arrived to find it relatively empty but we were greeted by the relieved nurse who had paged us.

"The chief called ahead," she told us. "He's bringing in one of his officers. He sounded worried."

At that moment the doors slid open and Chief Bryan Lewis staggered through them, supporting a man I did not recognise. Visually there was nothing remarkable about the newest member of the Forks police department but the scent of his blood pouring from his head was like nothing I had ever smelt before, delicious and compelling and infused with promise to quench my thirst and finally offer relief from over a century of pain. I leaned into Carlisle, casting out with my mind to seek his soothing calm as I had done so many times before but was sent reeling by the realisation that Carlisle was struggling too. He was fighting a battle to ignore the lure of this captivating scent that rivalled the battle I was fighting with myself.

The young man was mumbling reassurances to the chief that he was absolutely fine but Bryan was unconvinced. His thoughts identified the man as Charlie. Bryan was replaying the incident in his mind and I saw an out of control van skidding towards them across the ice. Charlie had pushed Bryan out of the way but had been clipped by the van himself and the impact had sent him careening down a steep verge, landing head first on solid rock. At first Bryan thought he had been killed and had been so relieved when he realised that wasn't the case. He worried that his decision to take him to hospital himself and not wait for an ambulance had been a bad one. In the few weeks that Charlie had been working with him, he had already established himself as a well-liked and valuable member of the team. I focused on Bryan's memories to distract me from the scent of Charlie's blood, seizing on the advice that Alice would give Jasper whenever he was struggling; to try and see past the blood and think of them as people. I was mostly succeeding until Charlie looked up though the blood in his eyes which must be obscuring his vision. When he saw Carlisle and me watching him, his breath caught and his heartbeat flew. I swore I could see recognition in his eyes and, for a fraction of a second, his change in stance postured for either fight of flight, but after mere moments he seemed to catch what he had done and rearranged himself once more, schooling his expression to calm.

 _He knows,_ thought Carlisle and it was that startling realisation that allowed us to gain complete control of ourselves. _How much does he know?_ Carlisle directed this question to me and I tried to isolate Charlie's thoughts from the thrum of others in the hospital. It was only then I realised that I couldn't hear them. His mind was completely silent to me.


	2. Wait

**AN: Thank you for reading. Your reviews, favourites and follows inspire me to keep working to get the next few chapters up as soon as I possibly can. I hope you enjoy.**

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 **2\. Wait**

Carlisle was calm as he stitched up Charlie's head because he was assuming I could read Charlie's mind and identify what he knew. He was patiently waiting until we were alone to discuss our options and how to proceed. I was much less calm because I knew that I couldn't read Charlie's mind and therefore had absolutely no clue as to the type of threat he posed to our ability to keep our secret and continue living in Forks.

I watched Charlie closely the entire time he was in the ER. After his initial reaction to us, he showed no sign at all that he was any different to any other patient. In fact, the only peculiarity in his behavior was his adamant refusal to allow the nurse to draw his blood for testing but even that would be fairly unremarkable if I hadn't been analyzing his reactions so closely. He certainly wasn't the first patient I'd encountered who had refused a blood test. Usually though, I would be able to pick the reason from that person's mind…fear of needles, false bravado, illegal substances, I had heard many unspoken excuses but Charlie's motive remained a mystery due to the ominous silence where his thoughts should be.

As Chief Lewis was escorting Charlie back to his cruiser, Carlisle pulled me to one side. _What does he know? Should we be worried?_ Carlisle had noticed all the same things as I had and was hoping for an innocent explanation for Charlie's initial reaction to us.

"I couldn't hear him. His mind was completely silent to me," I whispered so that only he would hear. It took Carlisle a second to process that unwelcome development.

 _Have you ever come across any other mind you couldn't read?_ As I was turning my head to indicate no, I realized that I couldn't be completely sure of that. I hadn't noticed that I couldn't read Charlie's mind until I actively sought it out. I felt shaken and off balance by the failure of my ability. Carlisle's mind was not so impaired. He was thinking that we needed to know more before we took this to the family. It was difficult enough for us to reach a consensus when we had all of the facts and he knew that there was a real potential for an overreaction to this. Rosalie and Jasper were so protective of the family. He worried for Charlie's safety and briefly contemplated not telling them at all but almost instantly dismissed that idea. If a human had even the smallest idea about what we were, the most basic precaution we had to take was to be more careful about maintaining our human façade. The most drastic action he would endorse was relocation but even that seemed ridiculous based on a few seconds reaction. _Would you mind following him? I can cover for you here. We need to have a better idea of what we are dealing with._

I caught up with them easily. They were quarrelling, with more humor than heat, about where they were going. Bryan wanted to drop Charlie off at home to rest but Charlie was insisting he go back to the station and finish his shift. In the end it was Charlie who was more persistent but Bryan only conceded with the agreement that Charlie would be deskbound for the rest of the night. It was the promise of help with his paperwork that finally swayed him.

I couldn't follow them into that station without being detected so I had to settle for watching Charlie through the minds of others. Fortunately he was under a great deal of scrutiny because Chief Lewis had ordered everyone to keep an eye on him for signs of a delayed head injury, just as Carlisle had instructed. I could tell straight away how well liked Charlie was. No one considered it a chore to watch over him, they were simply caring and concerned. Charlie seemed uncomfortable with the attention but was doing his best to hide it. The first opportunity of perceived privacy he got, he made a phone call.

"It's me," he announced into the receiver. "Are you okay?...Just checking in…I'm absolutely fine, just a slight accident and the Chief had to take me to the hospital for a couple of stitches…I promise I'm fine…no you don't need to come and get me. B…No…Bells, listen to me! I want you to stay there but I need you to take extra precautions…There is only so much I can say right now… No, stay for now I think and we can discuss it when I get home." It was so frustrating to only be able to hear his side of the conversation. If I were in the room myself I could have heard both sides of the conversation but I was listening via inadequate human ears. What potential insights was I missing?

The phone conversation had set me on edge. None of the words he had spoken were actually suspicious but he was definitely worried about something and trying to warn 'Bells', whoever that was. I continued to watch as I considered my options. Charlie was now concentrating on paperwork and the clerical staff were leaving for the night. Those who remained started to get distracted and less vigilant of Charlie so it was more and more difficult to watch him. I thought about trying to find his home so that I could read the mind of whoever it was he was talking to. If they had been able to understand his unspoken warning, did that mean that they knew more than they should too? In the end I decided to return to my family and formulate a plan. It shouldn't take us long to find his address and it would probably to quicker than going house to house, reading minds.

As I arrived home, Carlisle met me outside. _Did you find out anything more? Is he a threat to us?_ I shook my head with a frown. "I can't be sure," I told him. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and then solemnly called a family meeting. As we seated ourselves around the table, the mood was more somber than it would usually be. They had picked up on Carlisle's mood and were reacting to it.

"There was an incident at the hospital tonight," Carlisle began and I was immediately bombarded with their thoughts. They had unanimously assumed that I'd slipped again. They could tell I hadn't drunk from a human by my eyes but they were imagining a variety of other ways I might have exposed us. I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes in a futile attempt to block the cacophony of thoughts.

 _I'm so sorry I missed it,_ Alice was thinking. She had been trying to keep close tabs on me and hadn't seen anything that even hinted at a problem. That was surprising in itself because Carlisle and I had both been extremely tempted by Charlie's blood and it seemed implausible that Alice would miss that when she had been watching for us so closely.

 _Seriously? We've been back less than two days and he couldn't hold it together. If we have to move because of this…_ Rosalie was impatient and her hypocrisy did not sit well with me. None of us had complained either verbally or mentally the times we had been forced to move by Emmett's slip or her indiscretion.

Esme's overriding thoughts were of concern for me. She worried they had pushed me too hard to return to medicine and she felt responsible for whatever had transpired. Emmett and Jasper were not judgmental in the slightest and prepared to do whatever needed to be done and would support me unconditionally. I felt a wave a gratitude and love for them wash over me which helped to calm the racket in my head. Jasper sensed this and added a quiet serenity to it making me doubly grateful to him.

As soon as he realized the effect his words had had, Carlisle regretted them. "Edward is blameless," he told them firmly. Everyone expect for Rosalie felt repentant for jumping to conclusions and sat in still curiosity as Carlisle outlined the events surrounding Charlie's arrival at the hospital.

"You were tempted by him?" Esme voiced the shock that the rest of the family felt as she took his hand to offer him comfort and support.

"I did wonder…" Carlisle began, but I saw the direction his thoughts were taking. He was remembering the time that Emmett had been so tempted and the speculations we had made as we had tried to understand what had been so compelling about her blood that Emmett had not even hesitated before drinking from her.

"I don't think so," I interrupted him. I had had to relive Emmett's slip with him countless times as he had tried to process the guilt of ending that women's life "Charlie's blood had the exact same effect on Carlisle and I but it was different to Emmett's encounter. The underlying bloodlust was different somehow." The others were unconvinced, not really understanding what I was saying and I was at a loss as to how to coherently explain it. We moved on from it because it was Charlie's reaction to us and his subsequent phone call that were the more immediate concern.

Carlisle was explaining his perspective of the situation; that we had no proof of anything so we should just watch and wait whilst taking extra care to appear human when Rosalie's harsh train of thought became impossible to ignore. _We have to put up with Edward's horrifically invasive gift for our entire existence and the one time it might actually be useful it completely fails us._ I glared at Rosalie and she glared back unrepentantly. She knew I had heard her. _Stay out of head if you don't like my thoughts._ How I wished it were that easy. Rosalie's thoughts were even harder to bear when I agreed with them.

Everyone was debating what he could possible know, how he could know it and all the potential ramifications for us. I pointed out that it was not us who had exposed the secret to him. Whatever he knew, he had clearly known it before he set eyes on any of us. Jasper argued that that didn't matter…if we knowingly ignored a human with too much knowledge we were breaching the law, regardless of how they gained that knowledge. Alice was trying to force a premonition but I knew she was asking too much of herself. Trying to see the future of a human she had never met before would have been difficult even if she wasn't hampered by our indecision on the subject. The discussions continued throughout the morning until Emmett had enough.

When he stood and bellowed for our arguments to stop, we all listened. It was so rare for him to run out of patience that he had commanded our complete attention.

"The situation is this…a bleeding human stumbled into an ER where he came face to face with two bloodthirsty vampires. You have already told us that you reacted to him first. What if his response was simply his natural sense of self-preservation when confronted with the two of you looking like you wanted to kill him and once you reigned in your reaction, so did he. We only have a few seconds to go on. He smelled amazing to you both…maybe he has had a close call with a vampire before and he recognized the danger he was in but not necessarily why he was in danger. We might be seriously overreacting here because we have started to complacently rely on Edward's gift. I agree with Carlisle that we should just wait and see what happens. Everyone needs to decide to do nothing for now and so we can find out what Alice sees." It took us a few seconds to settle and do as Emmett suggested. It was a good idea and we all thought we should have had it hours ago. We waited in silence as Alice searched for our future.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," she told the others what I had already seen from her mind. "The foreseeable future has nothing even slightly concerning in it."

"Okay," said Carlisle, relieved. "We'll wait and see."

"I think Edward should still watch the human though," said Rosalie petulantly.

"Why me?" I asked, instantly regretting that I sounded equally as childlike.

"You can watch from a greater distance without creating suspicion," she said reasonably when what she was actually thinking was that I was alone and everyone else had much better things to do. I narrowed by eyes at her and she gave me an almost imperceptible smirk.

"I think it's a good idea," Jasper's thoughts were repentant because he knew I hated the idea. _I'm sorry Edward but I really think we need to keep tabs on him and you are best placed to do that._ Rosalie's smirk had widened. She knew I was much less likely to challenge Jasper's opinions than hers.

"I need to be at the hospital," I told them, not verbalizing my other reservations ranging from not wanting to be a creepy stalker to my abhorrence to the idea of purposefully listening to the thoughts of humans for prolonged periods of time.

"We would be really grateful if you would agree to do this, Edward," Carlisle's compassionate eyes met my defiant ones. "You can still do your shifts at the hospital. I think we should try and keep our invasion of his privacy to a minimum but I don't think we can ignore this either. There is too much at stake and being informed is the best way to be prepared." With that statement I was doomed to follow a human around in my spare time because there was very little, if anything, that would cause me to rebel against Carlisle's wishes again.

So this afternoon I would hunt. Tonight I would do my next shift at the hospital and then tomorrow I would start stalking Charlie Swan.


	3. Hear

**3\. Hear**

So far watching Charlie through the eyes of the humans surrounding him was as tedious and as uncomfortable as I'd predicted it would be. I hadn't needed to look far for him after my shift at the hospital had ended this morning. He was exactly where I'd left him; at work but still restricted to desk duties following his head injury. It wasn't especially difficult to keep tabs on him because there was still a concern for his health which meant he was being watched more carefully than he normally would be. Still, the minds of the humans would frequently wander away from Charlie and I'd be subjected to a flurry of thoughts, ranging from mundane computer inputting to inappropriate fantasies about co-workers. I wondered what I was really hoping to achieve here. Charlie was very unlikely to announce to these people he'd only worked with for a few weeks that vampires were real and he'd bumped into two of them working as doctors when he was dragged to the ER by Chief Lewis…even if that is what he actually believed.

Of course, to add to my suffering, it had to be one of the rare sunny days in Forks. The weather was forcing me even further away and making my task that much more difficult. I felt more isolated from my family than ever. Not wanting to be far in case of any developments, they were all planning to stay at home. Alice had been organizing activities while I was preparing for my shift last night and I was annoyed with myself that I'd felt so left out. I tried very hard not to feel resentful that as I was sat here alone in the shadows, they were enjoying each other's company without me.

Within a few hours my resolve to stay at my post started to crumble. I was on the verge of running from my cage of UV light, leaving a sparkling trail of exposure much worse than anything Charlie Swan could conjure up. If it wasn't for the sun I would never have lasted this long. I wished I'd brought my car. I'd decided against it, concerned that it might be suspicious for it to be seen parked in the same place for hours when I was supposed to be home sleeping after my night shift. Now I regretted the choice that had left me without a means of escape.

Then something changed in the atmosphere at the station. The mood of the humans had been similar to mine; they were feeling trapped at work, wishing they could enjoy the rare sunshine. I looked for the source of the new interest that had altered the current of the human thoughts. I was drawn to the mind of a human male, I knew his name to be Craig from my surveillance so far, who was deliberately prolonging his time at the photocopier so he could watch the girl at the front desk. She was chatting happily away but I had no idea what about as Craig was not paying attention to what was being said. He was thinking that even though she was not slim enough for his tastes, had boring brown hair which she had clearly made no effort to style and wore clothes that were ridiculously unflattering, there was still something about her and he would absolutely enjoy playing with her in the worst kind of way. He loved nothing more than seducing young women to do things they felt uncomfortable with and the only thing stopping him from pursuing this girl was a warning Charlie Swan had issued him the first time he had met her. I was furious with him and his derogatory thoughts, which seemed to be infinitely more irritating to me than normal. I heard thoughts like this all the time but I was irrationally angry that he would aim them at the beautiful, carefree girl he was watching. I completely disagreed with his assessment of her. Even through his distorted vision of her I could see that she had a natural beauty and grace that was rare and precious. I stayed with Craig's thoughts though, as he did have information that I needed. He recognized the girl as Charlie's sister. He supplied her name as Isabella and I immediately made the connection that she must be the 'Bells' Charlie had been talking to on the phone on the first night I had watched him. I felt conflicted. I didn't want her to be someone who knew too much about our family but I felt a thrill that I would have the excuse to continue to observe her. Then Craig started imagining very degrading encounters with Isabella and I felt disgusted with both him and myself. I extracted myself from his thoughts and searched for hers amongst the thrum of human minds in the vicinity. I couldn't find them.

I didn't like the implications of the gap where her thoughts should be at all. Both Isabella and Charlie's minds were eerily silent to me. I wondered about the possible causes. The most likely explanation seemed to be that it was some sort of genetic abnormality or quirk that they shared. I wanted it to be that but I couldn't shake the feeling that it might be something else that I barely dared to contemplate the ramifications of.

I watched through the eyes of others as she moved through the corridor, annoyed by their imperfect human eyesight. I wanted to see her with my own eyes, to be able to see her more clearly.

She was here to bring lunch for Charlie. I managed to settle in Chief Lewis' mind and felt some relief at the tender tones of his thoughts. He referred to Isabella as Bella and he felt a fatherly affection towards her as she reminded him of his own daughter, Trina, who he was missing terribly since she had left for College. He was touched that Bella had brought something for him as well as Charlie and suggested that she and Charlie go and eat outdoors to get some fresh air. His true motivation was to get her away from a certain set of leering eyes. His assessment of Craig's reaction to her was entirely accurate and it angered him almost as much as when it had been directed at Trina. I felt gratitude at his desire to protect her which confused me further. I had never found myself so personally affected by the objects of the thoughts I was subjected to.

xWx

Charlie and Bella settled themselves in the middle of a grassy area which was fairly crowded by people with similar ideas of enjoying their lunch in the sun. I wouldn't have been able to follow their conversation if it hadn't been for a young man mesmerized by Bella. He was pretending to read his book but completely focused on her. His fantasies were much more innocent than Craig's. He was thinking about asking her on a date and what it would be like to spend time with her. He was listening to find out if Charlie was her boyfriend but he knew it didn't really matter because he wouldn't be brave enough to ask her out either way. I was grateful for his shyness and concentration.

Bella pulled two foil containers out of a paper bag and handed one to Charlie with a fork before sitting back to eat her own meal. Charlie took a large mouthful of whatever it was then groaned in appreciation and Bella smiled at him fondly. It made her more beautiful and I shared a desire to reach out and touch her face with the man whose mind I was invading. I swallowed a growl aimed at him because I knew that whilst I wanted him to stop watching her, if he did my view of her would be gone as well. Bella and Charlie ate in companionable silence, neither of them seeming bothered in the slightest by the lack of conversation. I felt like I could watch her forever but my means of observing her was growing restless and his attention was drawn back to his book. I wanted to bellow at him that he was ridiculous. How could he find the contrived story lines in this farfetched novel more interesting than Bella? Fortunately for my sanity, Bella spoke and she had his undivided attention once again.

She had stretched out and rested her weight through her arms behind her as she arched up towards the sky with her eyes closed, seemingly trying to close the distance between her and the fluffy white clouds in the blue sky. This seemed appropriate to me because she looked like an angel. She was radiant.

"I've missed the sun so much," she almost hummed, her voice enthused with a deep sense of longing. The combination of her posture and the tone of her voice sparked a new set of fantasies in the boy's mind and I fought the urge to rip him away from her and snap his neck. I wanted to be the one leaning over Bella and touching her soft lips with mine. I wanted to see myself caressing the soft curve of her hips. I could hardly stand the images of him with her that he was projecting but I knew I had no claim on this girl. I blamed my extreme loneliness for creating a pull towards her that could not end well for either of us.

I only caught Charlie's indulgent expression because the boy was still jealously wondering who he was to Bella.

"Are you sure we shouldn't move back to Phoenix?" she asked Charlie wistfully.

"I miss it too, Bells," he said seriously, "but Matthew still thinks that we are better to stay here. I'm loathe to reject his instincts again after everything that happened the last time we did."

Bella sighed in resignation, "But it goes against all my instincts to stay here," she told him.

"Mine too. I know exactly what you mean and I feel the same way to some extent, but Matt was absolutely adamant. I think we need to trust him this time."

"Matt is not the one who is stuck here," she argued, "this whole town seems to have a permanent grey tinge that causes an ominous oppression, even before you even consider the other factors."

"Our reason for choosing Forks are all still valid and I was thinking that it might add another layer to our protection," Charlie said, carefully considering his words. "Who would think to look for us here? We always favor the sun for obvious reasons. Everything else just contributes to the unlikeness to us settling here. I think Matt might be right that this is our best hope of an episode of relative peace."

"It's still dangerous though. Yet another risk when we are exposed to so many. I feel so vulnerable here and I absolutely hate that." There was a slight tremble in Bella's voice as she spoke. Charlie reached out for her, clearly concerned and with obvious reluctance Bella turned away from the sun and towards him.

"Everything I have found out so far suggests that the risks are worth the benefits," he told her, his voice kind but firm, "We would need to be vigilant wherever we end up. This will keep our guard up, which can only work in our favor. If you really want to move again, we will, but I believe we should stay and give it a chance."

Their debate was deeply disturbing. It echoed their phone conversation. They were discrete, even in their private discussions, but my instincts told me that they knew something about us even if it seemed increasingly unlikely that we would be able to determine exactly how much they knew and how they knew it. What was more obvious to me now was that they were hiding something too. I felt an inexplicable urge to keep them safe from the dangers that were concerning them, even though I was sure the danger they were referring to was my family. Of course, their moving away would be the solution to all of my family's problems. With that being the case, why did the idea of Bella leaving fill me with such a throbbing sense of dread? It seemed beyond ridiculous. I hadn't even seen her with my own eyes. Something was very wrong with me recently. I chided myself internally but couldn't deny my extreme relief when after a few more minutes Bella conceded to Charlie and agreed to stay.

As they briefly hugged goodbye and went their separate ways, I had to make an instant decision which of them to follow. There was no contest.

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 **AN: Thank you so much for reading. Taking a moment to let me know what you think would really make my day.**


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